Exfoliative cytology in the esophageal carcinoma

ABSTRACT

In this study, the results of endoscopic biopsy and exfoliative cytology in the diagnosis of esophageal carcinoma, are compared. Among one thousand cases clinically suspicious of, or at risk for esophageal carcinoma, 20 proved to be malignant on surgical specimen. Brushing cytology was positive in eighteen and biopsy, in seventeen cases. All of the negative cases [30] were diagnosed correctly by both cytology and biopsy [no false positive]. False negative cases in biopsy [3] were diagnosed by cytology and false negative cases in cytology [2 cases] were correctly diagnosed by biopsy. All benign and malignant cases were, therefore correctly diagnosed by combined cytology and biopsy. It is concluded that performing both esophageal biopsy and brushing cytology will improve the diagnostic accuracy without adding inconvenience to patient